


The Neverending Misadventures of Atsuko Kageri

by starcrossedWanderer



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Botany, Dianna cavendish is also gay, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Flowers, Fluff, Gay, I like tags., Lesbian, Magic, Time Travel, akko is a useless lesbian that doesnt understand subtlety, fluff adjacent, hand holding, how many tags is good, i have brainworms, if you put only girls inside of a school, its called, lily - Freeform, listen, spells, the only thing you're going to get is more lesbians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:53:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25231168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starcrossedWanderer/pseuds/starcrossedWanderer
Summary: Akko wants to make a lily really big but OOPS! Not very good at magic.
Relationships: Diana Cavendish/Atsuko "Akko" Kagari, Ursula Callistis | Chariot du Nord/Croix Meridies
Comments: 9
Kudos: 101





	1. Lilies love

Akko laced her fingers around her wand, flicking it to side and pulling the imagery of a flower blooming in her mind. With a word she spoke, pulling the imagery of the flower growing larger. Her intention was sound, her desires clear. The spell poured from her mouth and into the wand.   
“Floradel bloom!” 

  
She closed her eyes, scrunching them up as she felt the magic course through her stomach. Any second now she’d feel her feet lifted up by the plant in the pot beneath her. Any second.   
She peeked an eye open. A flower drifted back and forth as it poked up from the pot beneath her. Her shoulders dropped and a frown crept up onto her face, “Seriously! I pulled it off perfectly. What could I be doing wrong?” 

  
Her face fell and she slumped down onto the bench. Her head rolled against the top of the bench and she stared up art the sky, sighing. Another failed spell. Another thing she didn’t understand. She followed the instructions, she followed the invocation, the prep, and she was SURE that her desire was there. She had the visualization. But there were the lilies. 

  
Small. 

  
Fragile. 

Weak. 

  
Maybe she just needed to do it again! Maybe she just needed to try it again. She gritted her teeth and adjusted the plant. Two inches to the left. Right that’s perfect because left is best. She took her stance, feet apart, Back straight and wand in two hands at the core of her body. 

  
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The flower, the flower. The lilies blooming right underneath her, pushing her up into the sky. The flowers that she loves would-  
“Akko, What are you doing here? Botanical magics isn’t until next tomorrow.”

  
Akko knew that voice. The tilt of her breath and the cadence of her voice was something she knew all too well. She opened her eyes, losing her balance. “Dianna, you broke my focus!” She folded her arms and took a step forward, her hair bouncing in time with her steps and that glint in her eyes just- 

  
“Lilies? You know this spell is intended for sunflowers right?” 

  
“Wait they are? The book I read said that it could be used on all flowers, not just Sunflowers.” 

  
Dianna gave Akko a look she knew all too well, “And who was the author this book? I’ve never heard of it being used anywhere else.” 

  
Akko pulled the book out from under the bench and showed it to her, “some girl named Vivi it looks like!” 

  
Dianna extended a hand for the book and Akko placed it in her hands. Her eyes immediately lit up, “Oh Vivianne Mindfang? Oh akko you poor thing. This woman is a practical jokester in the magic world.”

  
Akko scratched her chin, “Wait, she is? I thought she sounded pretty convincing when I read through it and it had a few pictures of it done with roses too!”

  
Dianna closed the book and shook her head, “No. Perhaps. The theory is there I suppose but you’d need a stronger spell because the magical signature of the lily is a bit harder to manipulate. You see they have an inherent magic absorption property inside it that causes you to have to double the energy you place in it.” 

  
Akko was floored, Showed up again by her bewitching words. “Whoa, How do you know all this Dianna?”

  
Dianna looked up from the book and met Akko’s eyes. Her bright red eyes shone in the light of the sun, “Well, Lilies are my favorite flower after all.”

  
Akko nodded, “Yeah. They’re mine too!”

  
Dianna sighed and handed the book back, “Of course. You just had to pick the most difficult flower to perform this on didn’t you?”

  
Akko leapt up from the bench, getting far too close to Dianna’s face, “Well! That just means that when I pull it off it’ll be that much cooler right?”

  
Dianna took a step back, clearing her throat and holding a hand over her face, “Yes. I do believe so. That is if you can pull it off.” 

  
“Well you said it should be possible right? That means I have to try twice as hard!” 

  
Akko immediately took her stance again over the lilies and held a breath in her. She just had to think twice as hard. She had to focus twice as hard. Put twice as much of herself into it and visualize it twice as much. 

  
She visualized the lilies beneath her, Dianna standing a few feet away. The lilies pushed up against her wrapping around them both and-

  
“Akko!”

  
“shush!”

  
The flowers bloomed in her mind and she felt a surge within her. Now was the time for the words, now was the moment,

  
“Akko wait!”

  
She poured her will into the words, she poured herself into the words and spoke from her heart. She loved lilies. Dianna liked Lilies. Chariot liked lilies. If she could master this then maybe she could put a smile on Dianna’s face and a smile on chariot’s face when she finally met her. 

  
“Floradel BLOOM!” 

  
She opened her eyes and the magic pulsed through her. Dianna took a step forward to grab Akko before it was too late but the flower pushed up around them. The pot shattered as roots took hold in the courtyard and two quickly fell into the center of the blooming lily. 

  
The stone walls outside them cracked as roots began to bore into the main hall of luna nova academy and the two of them tumbled into the center of the white easter lily that they found themselves in.

  
Dianna quickly intertwined her fingers into Akko’s and gripped her hand tight as she held tight together. 

  
Eventually the flower stopped growing. The two of them only seeing the vague sunlight 

  
Dianna cleared her throat, “I’m… Sorry. I got it mixed up. Lilies have a magical amplification in them that uh. Yes. I am sure it does not need explaining.”

  
Akko laughed and pulled herself up to rest against the wall of the lilies, “Okay but did you SEE how big this grew! How much magic must that have taken?”

  
Dianna smiled, Akko’s excitment was contagious, “Yes, you really have come so far. She squeezed her fingers in akko’s grasp as she leaned against the wall with her. 

  
Akko looked down at her hand, “Dianna?”

Dianna looked over, meeting her piercing red eyes again, “hm?”

  
“Your hand.”

  
Dianna pulled her gaze away from akko’s eyes and looked down, quickly pulling herself away and moving her head away to hide the growing blush on her cheeks, “it’s nothing sorry, I just wanted to make sure you didn’t get lost!”

  
Akko beamed, “Aww! Thanks! Now… How do we get out?”


	2. The Land of Lilies and Blooms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ursula and Croix find an unfortunate bloom.

It was a quiet Sunday for Ursula Callistis. An off day for the students and nothing particularly on the schedule, no trainings, no meetings, no private lessons with Akko. Setting a teapot on the stove, she muttered the incantation to set it aflame. Sure there was a knob that she could turn to click it on, but she liked the way the fire magic felt as the energy of the Sorcerer’s stone flowed through her. The stove beneath lit aflame. she stretched her arms up, letting out a yawn. She took a few steps and sat down at her desk, taking a look over a book she was studying on the theory of Magical botany. Akko had been asking about the subject recently and while she wasn’t familiar with the subject, what kind of teacher would she be if wasn’t willing to learn something for one of her students? 

  
In a few short minutes the pot screeched, startling her. She could just never expect when it was going to go off despite the fact she did this everyday. She took out a small red mug with a red and white insignia on the center as well as a tiny tea infuser. With a gentle hand she placed a mixture of safflower and cornflower petals, mixed it with dried blueberries and cranberries, and then topped it off with chopped and dried green tea and hibiscus leaves. She closed the infuser, placed it in the mug and then poured hot boiling water over it.   
She walked back over to the table and then sat back down, picking up the book while she waited for her tea to cool. 

**_Crunch._ **

  
Crunch? Now that was a noise that Ursula was not used to. Ursula stood up from her seat to find tiny shards of broken glass now sitting on her chair. With a look of surprise on her face she hopped away from her chair and quickly brushed off the glass shards from her outfit. 

  
Her eyes slowly looked up to one of the skylights that now had a massive Easter Lily poking out from it. She blinked, then cocked her head slightly as she grabbed her broom, and ran outside. 

  
The moment the door shut behind her she dropped her broom, mouth agape as she looked outside to see massive lily plants surrounding almost the entirety of Luna Nova. Academy. She chuckled a little bit, looking up at the one that had crashed into her living quarters and quickly flew up on her broom, taking a look at it.   
“Oh heavens, they’re still growing.” 

  
She looked over towards the inner courtyard of the academy and sighed, Was that where- 

  
“So I see I wasn’t the only one interrupted by This floral fiasco.”

  
Ursula turned, seeing a flowing red cape hovering on a tiny flying circle. 

  
“Professor Croix. Strange to see you outside on a sunday afternoon. And here I thought the sunlight burned your flesh.”

  
Croix turned and gave her a sly grin, “You’d be surprised what The miracles of modern science can do to the flesh. Perhaps you’d like to see it yourself?”

  
“Oh please, Aren’t you afraid I’d stake while you were changing?”

  
“Anyways, this flirting is fun, but I don’t think you came outside to have idle chitchat with me now did you.”

  
Ursula looked back at the expanding lily problem. Right. Focus on the issue at hand, “It looks like it’s blooming from the courtyard.” 

  
“So it seems. I can’t get any of my bots in there though, It’s a forest in there.” 

  
Ursula sighed, “Gosh I hope any students weren’t stuck in that.”

  
“Bad news I’m afraid,” Croix pulled out a familiar wand that made Ursula’s heart sink. 

  
“Akko!”

  
***

  
“Akko!” Dianna’s voice pulled her out of her reverie. 

  
“I can’t find it! I think I dropped it when we got sucked in.”

  
“Akko I have worse news. I think the flowers are still growing.”

  
Akko looked up, the flower she was stuck in seemed to be slowly getting taller and taller. Shocked struck her face and she shrank against the wall, “I did that?”

  
Dianna nodded solemnly, “I’m afraid we might be stuck in here for a while unless you happen to have a broom on you?”

  
Akko shook her head, “You know I don’t know how to fly on them.” 

  
Dianna sighed, “And I seem to have dropped my wand in the mix.” 

  
Akko patted herself down and slumped down, “I think I dropped mine too.” 

  
Dianna rubbed her temples, she had always known that Akko was a bit of a late bloomer, overexcited, passionate, cute- no. No she wasn’t. Dianna looked over at Akko. She was scrambling around the plant, looking around in places where she would never find that wand, and yet she persisted. She wouldn’t stop. She was so stubborn and there was something about it that drove Dianna mad. Something to this nonstop dynamo of energy and passion that just… pulled her in. She would never admit it though. Never.   
“I don’t think either of us happen to have kept our wands. Well, she will just have to take it on foot.” 

  
Dianna pulled a hairpin out of her hair and stabbed it into the bottom of the lily, cutting a hole into it. Akko, hovered next to her, watching eagerly, “Whoa! I never would have thought of that!” sat back as Dianna worked, leaving a small opening beneath them. 

  
Dianna sighed as she looked down into a sea of green and white, “I don’t think I can even see the ground anymore.”

  
“Only one way to get down then!” 

  
Akko threw herself headfirst through the hole as a worried Dianna stared with a look of horror on her face. 

  
“AKKO NO!” She uselessly reached out a hand, grabbing Akko’s foot but the force had already been exerted. Dianna fell after her face first, down into the sea of lilies and leaves. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was it a mistake to continue this? Probably! But who cares! I sure don't. I have gays on the brain and They won't stop yelling until I make the girls kiss.


	3. A Wand in Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diana investigates a strange substance. Chariot rages onward.

Time seemed to slow for Diana Cavendish as she fell. Something was off in the air. Something strange that she couldn’t put her finger on. As if the scent of a favorite treat had gone bad and did nothing but kept it’s stench around in a kitchen. However Diana was not in a kitchen and Diana hadn’t baked lemon bars anytime soon. 

  
Instead she was falling, possibly to her death because Akko Kageri needed to make a set of lilies big. She contemplated the feelings inside of her heart. On one hand, Akko was adorably incompetent in the way that makes you just want to protect someone and keep them safe, and on the other she was infuriatingly reckless in the way that made you want to toss her aside in the way that made you want to never see her again. And so Diana was at a crossroads that she should have crossed long ago. 

  
And of course. 

  
Akko was laughing her ass off.

She fell just above Diana, arms stretched wide out and cackling like, well, a schoolgirl. Beatrix, she was infuriatingly adorable. Diana looked back down, to the ground that seemed thousands of miles away. She shouldn’t have been falling for this long. Now that she thought about it, the flowers didn’t actually look like flowers. They should have been falling down stems. There should have been leaves. 

  
“Diana?” 

She turned, Akko had stopped her adorable laughter and seemed a little worried now, “We’ve been falling for a long time now Akko. We should have already reached terminal velocity and died.”

“Died? I don’t feel dead!” 

Diana squinted. Something about their surroundings felt off. Artificial, lines blurred around her but the lines and colors were wrong. It was as if they had fell out of the lilies and into something else. 

“There’s something wrong. We fell out of flowers, we should be falling into other flowers. Are we even falling?”

Akko looked around and reached a hand into her pocket, pulling out a piece of candy and threw it to the side. The candy soared out of her fingers and bounced off of something and then hit her in the face, “ow!” she winced and grabbed the candy, pulling off the wrapper and putting it into her mouth. Diana sighed and then leaned her body towards where the candy bounced off. She began to drift in whatever was keeping her afloat and reached out to find her hand touch a transparent clay like substance. 

She dug her hand into it and moved her feet on as well. 

Akko remained suspended in mid air. 

“Well, that confirms that theory. Akko, take my hand.” 

Akko tentatively leaned towards Diana’s outstretched hand and grabbed her wrist. She smiled at her and felt herself being pulled towards the invisible wall by Diana. 

Diana pushed her hands deep into gooey substance. It made her hands feel dry as if it was sapping the moisture out of them. She pulled one out and stared at it. A wrinkled and bony hand stared back at it, as if it had aged 20 years. The age however, seemed to disappear as soon as she pulled it out. 

“What is this substance?” 

***

“What is this substance?” Ursula hovered on her broom in front of the massive billowing pillar of energy in front of her. 

Professor Croix hovered next to her, doing a quick scan with the drone she used as a broom and then looking at the results, “It appears to be a large concentration of time magic centralized entirely within this pillar. It’s almost as if the lilies have… liquefied it. Fascinating.”

Ursula gave a sigh and shot Croix a look, “This is fascinating? What is Akko is in there?” 

“Perhaps it’ll awaken another one of those words then. She seems one to get through it.” 

“None of the words of Arcturus have anything to do with time and she doesn’t even have the rod. Do you know something I don’t?” 

Croix smirked and adjusted her glasses, “What, you think I have access to quantities of time magic on this level? You’d need access to some kind of incredibly powerful artifact or an incredibly large amount of magical energy. And where would I get that? And that’s just to do a time spell. To create something sustained like this, you’d need both.”

“So you haven’t found the Horologium Chamber have you?” The reflection of the sun hid one of Ursula’s bright red eyes as she shot Croix a glare. 

Croix just pulled up her goggles and smiled. 

“Are you kidding me? Was all of this on purpose just so you could get the shiny rod away from her?” 

Croix feigned offense, “Come now Chariot, You and I both know that I would _never_ do anything to endanger children don’t you? I’m a woman of science but honestly I’m-”

Ursula had stopped listening the moment she opened her mouth. She reared back up on her broom and flew directly at Croix, wand at the ready.

Croix leaned to the left and swiveled out of the way as a roaring Chariot zoomed past, “my my. This is unlike you. Is someone worried about her precious little student.” 

“Croix, the number of times you have _willingly_ endangered Akko is reprehensible. And this is just absurd. I won’t allow it. Stop this at once.” Chariot turned around on her broom and glared. In front of her was Croix and behind her, the barrier. A plan formulated in her head. It was risky. 

Croix shrugged and held her hands out, “Even If I could control it, I don’t really want to. Interfering with the process at this point might send them to the wrong place. Or even the wrong time.”

Chariot ran the numbers in her head. It was possible. But she’d have to be quick. She flicked her wand out and closed her eyes, taking a breath. 

Croix cocked her head, “What are you planning?”

She smirked, holding her wand to the side and she charged towards croix. 

Croix smirked again dodging to the side, but chariot threw her arm out and yelled out a spell, “ ** _Difranieado_**!” 

The smirk on Croix’s face fell as an explosion wrapped up both of them. Catching Croix, Chariot and both of their brooms in aftermath. 

The two flew out of control and careened into the pillar, disappearing inside. 

And as the pillar pulsed blue, then red and finally a brilliant white light as the pillar thinned and then disappeared, leaving behind a huge garden in the courtyard of Luna Nova Academy. 


	4. LWA IV: Witches in time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sucy Manbavaran Sees a magic Trick. Atsuko Kageri gets a lecture. Croix holds a secret.

To Many individuals at Luna Nova academy, what happened outside was just a normal day. Every so often a student researches a spell that they did not fully understand and it goes wrong. Atsuko Kageri had done this exactly eleven times. Sucy Manbavaran had done this three times, and Diana Cavendish had a grand total of 1, which she then immediately cleaned up the moment she figured out what went wrong. The teachers loved this about Ms.Cavendish and threw praises upon her. 

  
So when the absolutely massive patch of easter lilies suddenly disappeared as soon as they had arrived, the students of Luna Nova breathed a visible size of relief. Of course. It was probably just something that Diana had done. While a few of the massive plants remained, they would be quickly taken care of and put aside. But not before Sucy Manbavaran got her hands on them. There was a unique property that the stem of the lilies had that could assist in her potion-making, and the fact that these lilies were huge just meant that there would be even more stem than normal. Lilies were, after all, hard to get your hands on for a student witch. 

  
The moment she saw them bloom outside of her window she flew out and started cutting a few stems before they grew out of hand. This gave her a first-hand look at the massive barrier that began to envelop the lilies around her, and an even closer to look at Professor Ursula pulling both herself and Croix into the barrier before it disappeared entirely.   
Sucy dropped her massive shears as she hovered on her broom and stared dumbfounded at the area that, just a few moments ago, contained almost a dozen massive easter lilies. She cast her eyes at the few that still existed and gulped. While she had no idea what had just transpired, she knew for a fact that it was not normal. She flew down to the courtyard, stems in hand and ran inside scrambling around for a teacher. 

***

  
The first thing that Akko felt when the world finally stopped spinning, was a dull thumping pain in her head. The second thing she felt was someone shaking her awake. Hard.   
She pushed whoever the hands were attached to on their face and rolled over in the nice cool grass. The ground felt nice. Comforting. 

  
“Leave me alone. Five more minutes.” 

  
“I’m afraid we don’t have time for that Ms.Kageri.” The voice was familiar. The hint of an attitude laced with the brains to back it up. 

Akko’s eye’s flitted open as she rubbed her head, “Professor Croix? Where’d Diana go?”

Akko hadn’t ever been around Professor Croix that much. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be around Croix, but whenever she had the chance to do so, Professor Ursula suddenly had an assignment for her to do or something to work on. So she only had the brief chance in class to hear her when she spoke up. She squinted. A look of fear crept up Croix’s face as her mouth twisted into a frown. 

“I’m sorry Ms.Kageri. What?” 

“Diana was just here. Where did you come from?” 

“Ms.Cavendish was with you?”

“Yeah.”

Professor Croix had made a plan. Professor Croix had put things together. An intricately linked clockwork plan designed based on a very specific set of data and she had messed it up. With one person, Professor Croix knew exactly where they would be sent to, exactly how long they would be gone, and when the machine could be turned on again to pull them back. That was all with one person. 

But four people? 

Professor Croix had made a grave miscalculation. 

***

Diana Cavendish was pacing back and forth within the sea of easter lilies. Whatever magic had just activated was huge and Atsuko Kageri was nowhere to be found. Instead, all she had was Professor Ursula unconscious, lying on the ground. To try and recognize what kind of magic had gone off she would need a bit more material, and most importantly, an actual wand.

She had nothing except for the lilies around her. Much less, a wand. Ursula stirred behind her. 

“Oh good, you’re awake, I was beginning to think you had suffered a concussion and was thinking that I was sorely equipped to provide medical attention.” 

“What, Diana? What are you doing here, I thought just Akko had fallen through.”

Diana lowered her head and placed a hand on her hip, “Akko and I were together.”

Ursula brushed herself off and pulled herself to her feet, “If you and Akko were in there then that means, oh no. Is she nearby? Have you seen Croix?” 

Diana raised an eyebrow, “What does Professor Croix have to do with all this?” 

Ursula laughed nervously and pulled off her hat, readjusting a lock of hair. With a heavy sigh she looked down, “I don’t know whether or not it actually worked or if she was playing with me, but we may have just gotten displaced by a large amount of time magic.” 

Diana’s eyes went wide, her world felt still. No sound echoed other than the feeling of her heartbeat. There was a single word inside her head. Something that she couldn’t admit to herself but carried still within her heart. A seed of worry was planted. 

“Do you think we all got sent to the same time?”

The next few words that came of out Ursula’s mouth felt like they took forever, they felt like they took an eternity. Diana’s heart burst in her chest as she heard the words tumble out. 

***

“We have no way of knowing. We could have been dropped in any time, or at any place. Unfortunately I only have the one bot on me and a single magic router so I’m not sure and the tests that I could do would be limited.” 

Akko’s face fell and her shoulders slumped, “But you’re the great professor Croix, you MADE the magic router which pulls the magic up from the ley lines right? If it’s pulling more magic then that means we’re in the past right?” 

Croix shook her head, “time isn’t exactly like that Akko. That could mean that we’re in a future in which there is more magic, or perhaps an alternate present in which we have more magic. Time magic, while powerful, creates some interesting echoes across the stream of magic.” 

***

Diana raised an eyebrow, “Echoes? What could that possibly mean? Time doesn’t exactly echo does it. I would think that time exists as a line that one can travel through like the ley lines.”

Professor Ursula bit her lip and shook her head, “I’m afraid not. Time is less of a line and more of a tree. Think of it like the ley lines. They’re all over the earth and every single bit of it covers our planet. They twist and branch out and eventually move back to Yggdrasil, the world tree. Think of time like a tree. It branches out in two directions, with the past being the roots and the branches and leaves being the future. But deep within the trunk are layers and rings and countless different presents that we can’t see or ever hope to see. We could be in the past, we could be in the present, we could have not gone anywhere. In fact we might be standing in the exact same space as-”

***  
“Professor Ursula and your friend Diana.”

“Diana’s not my friend!” 

Croix gave her a cautious smirk, “Right. In any such case, we should probably get the lay of the land outside this veritable land of lilies and blooms, wouldn’t you say Ms.kageri?”

Akko pumped her fists and a look of fire overtook her face, “yeah!!! We gotta get back home!”

As Akko trailed the path ahead out of the sea of lilies, Croix trailed behind and slipped slid her sleeve down, exposing a black watch. She pressed her thumb on the center. Magic bloomed around it and surged through it’s whirling gears and a 4 digit number appeared on the face. 

-1672 years

Croix cocked her head and slid her sleeve back over her watch.

“Professor! Stop being such a slowpoke!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gods I really just kinda disappeared didn't I!  
> a lotta stuff kinda poured in- no actually it didn't We're just in a pandemic and everything sucks!  
> Anyways hope you enjoy the chapter!


	5. Cavendish of old, Cavendish anew

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akko meets a Cavendish. Diana and Ursula have a fight.

If you looked closely at the area that Akko and Diana both found themselves in, you might think it looked remarkably like a spot the difference photograph. The two of them stood side by side, but unable to see each other for reasons they did not understand. 

Akko took a look over the Rustic town she found herself in as she departed the lily garden. She’d been to the city next to Luna Nova Academy and though it looked somewhat similar, things were just ever so slightly off. Buildings looked newer, but impossibly old. Trees looked small where old ones had stood before, and there was a relative amount of energy in the air that was far different from when she had visited in her own time. The hustle and bustle of everyday life in whatever time she found herself in was hypnotizing. Smells of fresh bread mixed with the scent of butcher’s fresh cuts of meat as both she and Croix walked through the the marketplace of this old city. 

Meanwhile Diana and Ursula walked side by side, glancing about the same city, a timeline apart. The same scents and city greeted them but slightly different. Where a butcher stood in one booth for Akko, A Fishmonger stood for Diana. 

Diana cast a glance around the market taking a deep breath as she scanned the crowd for Akko or even Croix. 

“Any luck?” Ursula said. 

“I don’t think so,” Diana sighed. 

Her eyes lingered for a second on an empty space. There was something off about it, something strange. A timeline away, Akko stood in the exact spot that diana was staring at. She felt a prickle on the back of her neck. Like she was being watched. She turned around and-

“Diana?” For a split second Akko saw the light green and blonde dyed hair of Diana Cavendish and burst into a sprint after her.

As she got closer she called out her name again, “DIANA!!!” And placed a hand on her shoulder. 

The woman turned around and stared at akko. Confusion stuck on her face. 

Akko stopped and pulled her hand away, “Oh, You’re not- Sorry, I thought you were someone else.” 

The woman beamed down at akko and waved, “Oh don’t worry, It happens. Say, I haven’t seen you around here before. Are you new in town?” 

Akko scratched the back of her head as Croix came running up behind her, “so sorry Ma’am, My daughter-” As Croix’s eyes landed on the woman’s face, she gasped and started coughing.

The woman’s face tilted up in a confused smile. 

“Beatrix! Beatrix! Come now we have places to be!” 

The woman turned and looked over at the companion calling her name as Akko’s face twisted into shock.   
Beatrix waved as a sharply dressed woman in a suit and bowtie ran up behind her. She placed a hand on Beatrix’s shoulder and breathed in and out heavily, trying to catch her breath, “good heaven’s Beatrix, You were right behind me last I checked.” 

Beatrix nodded and gestured to Akko and Croix, both of which were stunned, “Oh so sorry Amandine. I just got stopped by this lovely little girl on her mother. It appears they confused me for someone else.”

The woman in the suit glanced over at Akko and Croix, both of whom had finally regained their composure.

Croix was the first to speak, “Yes so sorry for my daughter. You just reminded us of someone else. Though while I have your attention, You wouldn’t happen to be Beatrix Cavendish wouldn’t you?” 

Beatrix gave the two a warm smile and nodded, “I suppose that is me isn’t it. I take it you know someone from my family?”

Akko looked away, “You could say that.”

Amandine, looked down and shook her head, “Lady Beatrix, We do not have time for this commoners confusing you with some everyday rabble! We have places to be and you know that

Woodward is so close to figuring out the third-” Amandine stopped and glanced over at Akko and Croix, “Essay. It’s almost done for our research grant yes?”

Beatrix looked over at Amandine and nodded, “I suppose so,” She glanced at the two of them, “Say, I don’t believe I caught your names.” 

Akko pulled herself together enough to quietly say her name, “Atsuko Kageri.” 

Croix pulled their goggles off their face and flashed a subtle smile, “Croix Kageri.”

Beatrix looked down at akko and cocked her head, “Kageri… You wouldn’t happen to be related to a woman named Ren, now would you?”

Akko scrunched her face up and shook it, “No, Not that I know of.”

Beatrix shrugged and turned away, “Must just be a coincidence. May your day be filled with light.”

Akko turned to croix immediately and grabbed her shoulders, “CROIX THAT WAS ONE OF THE-” 

Croix quickly slapped a hand over Akko’s mouth and pulled her into a side alley, “Akko, not so loud she’ll hear you.”

Akko burst with energy and hopped from foot to foot as she tried to contain her excitement, “nine! Old! Witches! That was her! That was Diana’s Anscestor that was her that was her aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.”

Croix took a deep breath and glanced down the alleyway making sure no one heard them, “yes they were. And they don’t appear to have all of the words of Arcturus yet.” 

Akko stopped and looked up at Croix, “I thought they Sealed the grand triskellion”

Croix nodded, “they did. In our timeline anyways. It looks like things are a little different here.”

A lightbulb went off in Akko’s head, “We should follow them! They’re supposed to be the best and greatest witch’s of this era. Maybe they can help us get back home.

Croix opened her mouth to brush off the idea but she stopped, “That… Might not actually be a bad idea Akko. Good job.”

Croix placed a hand on akko’s head and Croix followed her out of the alley. 

***

Diana breathed a sigh and shook her head, “No dice. It was just some woman that looked like her.”

Ursula frowned, “Even so, I don’t think we would stand to gain much by finding her.”

“Stand to gain? What does that mean?”

“It means getting home should be our first priority, or finding a way to start. We’re stuck in the past Diana. We need to find a way home. There are countless different branches and rings that we could find ourselves in. They could be in any of them we need to find a way to get home, and once we’re there we can actually have the power and the means to find them.”

“But what if they’re here, We can’t just leave them here.”

“If they’re here then that’s easier since the energy has already been exerted. But they could be anywhere. There could be in the next ring over, or 5 rings over.”

Diana growled, “how do you know so much about time magic? There is nothing at Luna Nova and nothing in any magical documents I’ve ever read. The closest I’ve ever come to that is the summer with Akko and the Horologium chamber. But that won’t be made for a while.” 

Ursula sighed and shook her head, “It’s complicated Diana. I don’t know if I can say.” 

Diana paused for a moment. Professor Ursula was hiding something and she knew it was important. She knew it was something that might be dangerous, otherwise she would just say it.

It had to be something connected to time right. Something that if she said, it would irreparably harm-

Diana put two and two together. 

“This isn’t your first time traveling through time is it? You’ve been back here before haven’t you?”

Ursula’s face paled, “No.”

“Liar. Why are you lying to me?”

Ursula’s face went red and she grabbed Diana’s hand and pulled her into an side alley. 

“Diana listen. You’re not going to believe me. You never believe me everytime I say this. I’m stuck in a loop. A time loop I guess. I don’t know what’s going on and I don’t know what’s happening. You never remember this. No matter how many times I try to explain it goes wrong. And I am tired. I have lived through this day 413 times and since then I’ve been slowly losing my mind. This day. There’s something about this day that keeps pulling me back, something I’m doing wrong, but the horologium chamber doesn’t exist yet. I’ve checked.”

Diana remained silent. 

Ursula continued, “and frankly I’m tired. I haven’t slept in days. Everytime midnight hits it’s right back towards combing through that damned forest of giant lilies and I don’t know where

Croix is and I can’t find her.”

“Wait, what, croix?”

“Yes Diana, Professor Croix planned something and did something that sent us all back in time. Sorry, I know I’m coming off as a little rude right now but I’m just tired of this.”

“Ursula collapsed against the wall of the alleyway and began crying.”

Movement caught Diana’s eye and she stared at the entrance to the alleyway. No one was there but she could have sworn she just heard Akko’s voice, “Ursula… I’m sorry.”

Professor Ursula was a mess. Carefully placed mascara mixed with tears trailed down her face and realized she had just yelled at a student, “I’m… sorry Diana. This is just a lot.”

Diana paused, “In any of the four hundred and thirteen times you’ve gone through this, have we ever found a way home?”

Ursula shook her head. 

  
A determined look washed over Diana’s face, “then that’s what we’re going to do.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Will I ever upload this regularly? No. No I won't


	6. Lillies of the mind.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lotte and Sucy misremember

Lotte Jansson had been cooped up in her room gobbling down the latest Nightfall book when Sucy burst in panting. The look on her face was something that Lotte had become all too familiar with over the last few months at Luna Nova Academy. Heavy breathing, something between a smirk and anger twisted her face and that all too noticeable look of worry in her eyes. 

“What did Akko do this time?” Lotte said with a heavy sigh. 

Sucy shook her head. What, it wasn’t Akko? Something different then. 

“I just got done talking to Professor Croix about some weird goings on in the lily garden.”

Lotte felt confusion wash over herself. Lily garden? The School didn’t have a lily garden. She opened her mouth to protest but closed it. Did it have a lily garden?   
The Pavilion that everyone used to congregate in the center had… something right? Was it a lily garden? Oh right. Luna Nova had been founded on a massive forest of lilies years ago, they were wild by the time the nine old witches got there-

No. Was it nine? Ten right? Yeah ten! The ten old witches got there and cut them all down, but replanted the seeds and managed them. The lilies were still big and their magic amplification properties made them an excellent garden to tend to for witches. They even helped the Sorcerer’s Stone grant just a little more magic each day with the way they interacted with the leylines. Right. 

“What’s going on in the Lily garden?” Lotte said, tilting her head in confusion.

“Well I saw this huge pillar while I was collecting-” Sucy froze. What was she collecting? It was something big wasn’t it? She could feel something shifting in her head. Connections were changing, losing their form. Massive… Lilies? No there were no massive lilies near Luna Nova right? Sucy’s face fell and a look of concern swept over lotte’s eyes. 

“Is everything alright Sucy?” 

“Time magic. Something time related is happening. Is it… changing my memories?” Sucy clutched her head and fell to her knees.

Lotte threw her book off herself and ran to her friend, “Sucy, what's wrong?” 

Sucy pulled everything she had together. Massive lilies. Massive lilies. Massive lilies. She was picking stems. Stems from massive lilies. Because Akko was in the garden working on a spell that made lilies huge. Did akko know time magic? She was the center of what happened last summer with the horologium chamber. It would make sense that at the very least some of it had rubbed off on her. Or something was in her. Time magic requires immense power and while Akko was still learning it wasn’t like it was impossible. She seemed to be able to cast spells fairly easily after she drank a potion so she might still have some left in her. But croix said the time magic had been taken care of earlier. 

“We need to find the horologium chamber.”

“Didn’t Professor Ursula seal it away or something?”

Sucy slowly got to her feet, What is sealed can be unsealed Lotte. It was unsealed before. We did it on accident. I think we can do it on purpose.” 

Lotte felt a little worried. Last time when they interfered with the Chamber, it sent them into what felt like a near endless cycle of living the same day over and over again. She didn’t want to go through that again nor did she want to inflict that fate on anyone else. 

She spoke her concerns, “Are you sure about this? I’d rather not any of us have to get stuck in a day cycle over and over again.”

“I don’t think we’ll need to worry about that again. If any of us were it would have already happened by now, right?”

There was a look that passed through the two. Wordless but the understanding was reached immediately.

“Croix told me earlier that… Time is a little different than most people realize. And then she went on this whole tree metaphor that I accidentally dozed off to while I was thinking about the stems.”

Lotte frowned, “how does she know so much about time magic”

Sucy shrugged, “I’m not honestly sure. I feel like it might be one of those advanced classes right? something you learn on your second or third year.”

Lotte shook her head, “There was nothing on the class signup last semester though. Do you think there’s stuff in the library?” 

Sucy placed a finger on her lips and looked up, “Maybe. We’ll have to double check.”

The two girls ran off into the direction of the library. 

As the door slammed shut and the room sat silent, a tiny red and black cube slowly floated out from underneath Lotte’s bed, and flew out the window.   



	7. Dish of Plenty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Croix And Akko Find Themselves Privy To Prying Eyes. 
> 
> Ursula and Diana Seek The Forest

Blytonbury’s main export might surprise anyone at Luna Nova academy. Their towering oaks and may lead one to believe that it was lumber. The mountains rich with gemstones and crystals may lead you to believe it would be minerals and precious stones. But what betrayed the illusion and what painted a picture of the Brytonbury of the Age of Witches was the Rich farmlands of grains and vegetables, leaving a bustling marketplace filled with all sorts of wonders that which Akko and Croix had never seen before. 

It also made finding a place to eat lunch a breeze while taking a break from tailing Beatrix. 

Akko took a small bite of the intimidating haunch before her, “Where did you get that money Croix? I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it before.”

Croix took a sip of the cup of broth she had picked out, the scent of fresh tomato wafting past her nose “Oh have I never told you, I’m an avid coin collector. Can’t get enough of old money heh.”

Akko raised an eyebrow, “You have literally never spoken about this.” 

Croix shrugged, trying to brush off the subject, “I’m pretty sure I have at some point, maybe you just weren’t paying attention.”

Akko fell back in shock. That was the case, a lot of Croix’s lessons did happen to go over her head. She would usually ask help from Diana or Sucy or... Didn’t she have a second roommate? Yes. Yes she did. Lotte. Lotte. It was Lotte. What was happening?

She moved past the fact that Croix seemed to have the perfect type of coinage for this era and looked up at the Professor with a determined look on her face, “Professor, er, mom. Is it possible that we could be changing things from back home? 

Croix paused for a second, placing down the cup of broth and taking a look at Akko. She lifted her goggles and cocked her head softly, “Akko, You’ve time traveled before right?”

“Um, yeah? Why?”

Croix nodded and leaned back in her seat, “And did you change the flow of time back then? did the things you did in one timeline affect the timeline when you went back?”

Akko placed a finger on her lip and thought, “I think it was a bit more complicated than that. We were stuck in a time loop. everything reset everyday so... no.”

Croix nodded, “Exactly. So what are you worrying about? Time here is fine. If we changed something, we’d see the effects almost instantly.” 

Akko didn’t seem satisfied, “What if... Diana and Professor Ursula are changing something? We wouldn’t be able to see that would we?”

Croix leaned forward and took a big sip of broth and then gave Akko a warm smile, “We’re fine Akko. You know how smart Diana is and Ursula is even smarter. We’ll be fine.”

A disturbance at the entrance of the inn interrupted Akko before she could continue. A flash of Green and Blonde hair set a spark aflame in her heart for a moment until she realized who it belonged to. 

“Excuse me, you haven’t seen a girl with brown hair and-” Beatrix stopped as she caught Akko staring, “Ah that’s her.” 

Akko found herself staring further as one of the Nine Olde Witches seemed to be looking for Her. 

“Excuse me, Atsuko right?”

No matter how many times she looked at Beatrix she couldn’t shake off the feeling of awe and wonder. She nodded wordlessly. 

“You know, the funniest thing happened Me and my fellow... Researchers were just taking a look around, and wouldn’t you know it, I could have sworn I had seen one of you two.” 

Without asking for permission, Beatrix pulled up a chair and sat down at their table, leaning on her hands. 

“So color me surprised when I cast out my wand and double checked and found that the two of you are magic.” 

Croix spat out a bit of broth and quickly covered her mouth, “M-magic? Please, ma’am, that would mean we’d have to be-” 

“Witches.” Beatrix interrupted, “Yes I know how controversial it is to be that in this day, but trust me when I say that I know one when I see one. I’ve already outed myself. It’s only fair for you to do the same.”

Akko sighed, standing up and slamming her hands down on the table, “You’re right! We’re from the future!” 

Croix choked, “Akko no she didn’t-”

“Now there’s a surprise. The future, you say?”

“My daughter has a very vivid-”

“Your daughter looks nothing like you, Croix.” 

“She takes after her father,” Croix said through gritted teeth. 

Beatrix chuckled softly and gave the professor a sly grin, standing to her feet, “Fine then, keep your secrets. But If I find out that you’re after Arcturus, then I hope you’re ready to bargain with your life. Oh. And Atsuko?”

Akko sank in her seat and tried to look small, “Yes Beatrix?”

“You have great magic in your heart. I pray that you do not let this one cloud your mind.” 

And with that, the legendary Witch Beatrix left the inn leaving a number of eyes staring at the duo. 

“Well, at least things can’t get any worse, right professor?”

Before Croix could open her mouth a small buzzing sounded from her pocket and a muffled voice. She quickly slapped a hand over it and stood up, motioning for Akko to follow. The young witch scooped up the professors broth and grabbed the haunch and headed outside. 

***

“And how do you suppose we do that, Diana? You think I haven’t tried?” 

Diana took a deep breath and slapped Professor Ursula across her cheek, “Get a hold of yourself. I understand you’re stressed but we must remain calm. Have you found Croix?” 

“No, I just-”

“Have you talked to Croix?”

“No she’s not here. I don’t think she even fell into the same time as us.”

“Croix has any number of gadgets on her at any given point and is seemingly prepared for anything that happens on a given day. She has to have something from our time on her. Anything at all.”

Ursula looked frazzled. Tired. Stressed. Like she wanted to be anything else but here. She took a deep breath and clapped her hands together, pressing them to her lips.

“Yes yes. she always has a magic router on her at all times.”

Diana’s face brightened, “So that means she has a direct connection to the leylines.”

“Which... means...” Ursula took a deep breath and closed her eyes, “We could send a message? but it’d only be one way and we’d need to find a place with an incredibly powerful magic signature. And it’d be a shot in the dark where the message gets sent to.

There’s... there’s theories about this. That you could talk to other timelines through leylines because all they are is Yggdrasil’s roots.”

Diana nodded, and forced out a bright smile, “See. there’s hope professor. We will get everyone home. We will get everyone together. You’re strong. You’re smart.” 

Diana didn’t like lying. Diana wished that she could break down in tears, but unfortunately she had to be the calm one here. She had to be the collected one here. Ursula was going to lose it if she didn’t. It really is true what they said about adults. All they are is children with experience. 

Ursula seemed to calm down a bit and took a deep breath, “Right. Right. We need to... find a place with a large amount of magic.”

“The Arcturus Forest should be nearby right? It can’t be that far.”

Ursula looked nervous, “Isn’t that home to a lot of monsters?”

“Yes, but I’m hoping they’re less aggressive since there’s more of them and they aren’t constantly being hunted.” 

“Good plan!” 

With that, The two witches gritted their teeth and set off into the unknown. 

  
***

Croix dove into a dark alley and pulled out the router, with Akko following after. 

“-One way so I don’t actually know if you can hear this,”

“Diana!” Akko recognized the voice. 

Croix quickly shushed her.

“But we are currently in The Arcturus Forest, we are doing our best to keep safe but I’m not sure how much longer we can keep off these harpies so let me make this quick. We are safe, but not for long. Do not search for us. You will not find us. Ursula and I both believe we landed in different places or different times so finding us will be fruitless. Instead, please focus on finding a way home, finding a way to different timelines, anything. Croix, I know you’re smart. I know you’re cunning. If anyone can do this you can. 

Sincerely, Diana Cavendish”

***

“Lady Beatrix, you know we can’t waste our time with commoners, these two are nothing.” 

Beatrix shook her head and pushed away Amandine’s hand away, “I know what I sensed from those two, and you know my gut is never wrong. Those two are witches.” 

She peaked her ear down the alleyway and heard a message echoing.

“-please focus on finding a way home, finding a way to different timelines, anything. Croix, I know you’re smart. I know you’re cunning. If anyone can do this you can.   
Sincerely, Diana Cavendish.”

“Cavendish, huh.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back baybee

**Author's Note:**

> Shorter chapter today! I've finally finished up an outline for this whole thing. The secret project I've been working on has been finishing up so it might be able to update a bit more frequently, but i have another thingy ramping up in october. fingers CROSSED  
> Hope you like the different angle!


End file.
